“I got my license and became a real estate agent thirteen months ago. In those same thirteen months I’ve directed two professional productions. . . . How do I know I’m a director if I’m not directing? I know throughout my life there will be periods of time when I won’t be directing. Few directors ever reach a point where they’re in constant rehearsal. Few directors would even want or be able to keep up with that, but even in those quiet months, they know in their hearts that they’re still directors.”

One of the productions Soloway refers to is Carrie & Francine, presented last fall by as part of “The Director’s Haven,” a showcase for emerging directors established by Chicago’s Haven Theatre Company, whose executive director and co-founder Carol Cohen studied Theatre Design at the Columbia College Chicago Theatre Department. The cast of Carrie & Francine featured Columbia College Chicago Theatre Department students Rory Beckett and Tristin Hall.